Korea is a Tremendous Opportunity for 'Make in India': Jayant Sinha

Amidst an uncertain global economy, the Indian economy is one of the fastest growing economies of the World. It provides tremendous opportunities to Korean investors to make for India and also make in India. This was stated by Mr. Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance at the India Korea Business Summit being organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry in collaboration with The Chosun Ilbo, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Government of Korea and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India here today.

According to the Minister, to be successful in India, the products made for India should be of the highest functionality at one third of the cost. He invited the Korean business community to take advantage of the entrepreneurial pool in India and create products for global markets.

The Minister was of the view that Korean companies should understand that the development model of India is different from that of Korea. It requires considerable reengineering in terms of the business model to make products and services that are Indianised. He gave an example of Maruti, which has created customized products for the Indian market in collaboration with Japanese automaker Suzuki.

Mr. Sinha presented the direction of the Government. He stated that the Government would be focusing on 5 core areas viz. universal social security, national crop insurance, manufacturing in India, financial sector reforms and infrastructural development. He observed that a major objective of the Government is to support and empower the poor. To do so, market oriented reforms are necessary.

Addressing the participants, Mr. Jeong Kab-Yoon, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Korea highlighted the need to diversify and expand the economic cooperation between the two countries. He also stated that there was a need to arrest the decline in bilateral trade between India and Korea in the recent past.

In his address, Mr. Bang Sang-Hoon, President and CEO, The Chosunilbo stated that Korea can be a great partner to the new business – friendly policies being adopted by the Government of India.

Mr. Park Yongmaan, Chairman, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated that some of the sectors that India and Korea could work together included infrastructure, smart cities, housing, manufacturing among others.

According to Mr. Kim In-Ho, Chairman, Korea International Trade Association, Korea’s experience in industrialization can act as a model for India. He felt that the Make in India initiative was very timely and opened a number of opportunities for Korean companies to invest in India.

In his address, Mr. Sumit Mazumder, President, CII stated that India and Korea could work together in the areas of ICT, Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Transportation and Logistics among others.

Earlier, welcoming the participants to the Summit, Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII stated that the presence of such a large business delegation from Korea indicated the strong interest that Korean businesses have in India.